Category Archives: Survival

It’s undeniable that things have been heating up in America with Law Enforcement to an extreme degree. With a disenfranchised civilian populace, an ever growing rift seems to be growing between LEO’s and the people they’re supposed to serve. Add economic hardship, a backwards education system, difficult to manage medical system, and a myriad of other reasons and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

Take a moment to peruse the web and you’ll find a host of articles dedicated to how many police have been killed in the line of duty over the past few years, along with a host of articles outlining how many folks have been killed by police. Most of these sites seem to advocate extremes on either side rather than addressing any sort of issue. I’m going to go on a quick rant that can’t even begin to address the entire scope of the issue, but bear with me.

So who’s to blame? Is it the police as an organization because of their sometimes heavy handed tactics? Or is it the common people for giving into misconceptions about police? Well, the answer isn’t that easy to come by.

Unfortunately, there are too many factors to assign blame to any one individual factor. What we need to stand for is good officers doing good things for their community, support those officers, and prop them up. Police need to take back the old idea that policing was an honorable and honest profession. Police also need to be held accountable from within the organization, and prosecuted within the fullest extent of the law when they slip up in the line of duty, just like soldiers deployed to a war zone must do. If you’re a soldier and you shoot up a car full of people without having been ordered to do so, you’re now facing a murder charge for every single one of those people who dies. The same should apply to police.

At the same time, blaming police for all the problems in America has to stop, and violence cannot be seen as anything other than an absolute last resort. Going off and killing a lone, innocent police officer will do nothing for the cause of freedom other than give the power structure more of an excuse to tighten the noose. There’s no physical action that can be taken, rather, there is legislative action. Unless we want our country to end up looking like Ukraine we have to delegate matters to competent sources. We need to vote for change rather than try and force it at the end of a gun barrel. The more violence that happens against police, the more violence police will do to the population. This is how it works- if police in an area are afraid of getting murdered all the time, they begin to act with more force as they are trained to do to avoid injury, when that force is applied to the wrong person it sends a ripple effect through the community, causing more people who are willing to do harm to police. Then the cycle repeats itself until no one likes the cops, and the cops don’t like anyone else other than their own kind.

Someone has to be the bigger man in all this. Support your local police and they’ll support you. I’m no state apologist, but I’m also not a fucking idiot. If you think police are the biggest problem in this country, you may be part of the problem. We need someone willing to stand up and defend the common people, someone to give a voice of reason in a chaotic world. If there were no police we’d all go around killing one another over minor disputes, and how do I know this? Easy. Go spend a reasonable amount of time in any third world country and see for yourself. We don’t want America to be like Somalia, so please, honor our police, and police, honor our citizens. It’s that easy.

In this part one of an instructional/discussion video, DIY veteran (and former Marine) USMCDoc discusses the illustrious process of building an AK-47 variant from scratch. In it, he dispels the myths, the rumors, and the horse crap in favor of pointing out the important whys for each type of build.

This is a multi-part series, so be prepared for several hours of mostly discussion with some actual show-and-tell. If you’re serious about building an AK-47 variant from scratch, then you have every reason in the world to watch this series from start to finish and follow his advice. However, if you’re looking for a down and dirty – check out the video right below this paragraph.

The Blank Receiver

Before you really can go anywhere with an AK-47 variant build, you’re going to need to machine the receiver. Now, before you do this – check with YOUR state and localities laws. If you EVER want to sell or transfer this item, you will have to go through the FFL process with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

If you decide you want to make the trigger housing group fully automatic or selective firing, you’re going to need an NFA. That’s also non-negotiable in terms of federal law. So, when you are building your AK-47 variant, keep all those things in mind.

Why Is A Homemade AK-47 Variant So Essential?

The AK-47 is one of the most reliable and easily fabricated semi-automatic rifles in existence. It’s main competitor, at the time, was the FAL equivalent which was adopted by many NATO partners. The FAL is complete horse rubbish. It’s not very hardy and it’s much more difficult to operate than most AK-47 variants.

And the other major competitor (at the hayday of AK-47 manufacturing) was the CAR-15 (AR-15, civilian equivalent; M-16A2, military equivalent). The CAR-15 is indisputably one of the best medium range battle rifles on the planet. It uses a smaller bullet size (5.56 mm) than the AK-47 (7.62x39mm) and – with only iron sights and some windage – can reach out and touch someone at 500 yds. What’s not to love?

AR-15s are SEVERELYoverpriced and their stock Mil Spec parts can sometimes be garbage.

There is literally no reason on this planet stock AR-15s should be this expensive.

Soooo… You can either spend $1300-1500 building an AR-15 from parts the right way or $850 stock base. From the $850 base model, most AR-15 owners who actually intend to use their AR-15 at the range and as a home-defense weapon, will spend upwards of $1,200 upgrading that rifle through after-market parts.

Screw all that. An AK-47 built from the bottom up will serve you just as well – if not better. You can still add all the bells and whistles that make the rifle “tacticool” while actually being just as effective (if not more so) than a tricked out AR-15 variant.

So, building an AK-47 from the ground up is a fraction of the cost of doing the same with an AR-15 and can accompany all the tricks and ponies every mean motherjammer wants with his rifle.

If you’re anything like most gun owners, you’ve got an assortment of different rifles, pistols, revolvers, and shotguns. Some are probably fancier than others and there’s probably a few you got on a whim. Today, we’re going to talk about ammunition interchangeability. That’s the ability to use ammunition through multiple weapons rather than having a requirement for fifteen different types.

Why Ammunition Interchangeability Is So Important

In a sustained period of uncertainty, you don’t know the next time you’ll be able to reliably get more ammunition. And if you’re the type that sets up caches and various resupply points, you don’t want to have to guess which cache holds which ammo.

Revolvers That Use Pistol Ammunition

Revolvers predominantly come in .38 Special/.357 through .44 caliber. But did you know there were revolvers on the market that also accept 9mm Auto, .45 ACP and other traditional pistol ammunition?

Moon clips are used to hold pistol ammunition in the cylinder of a revolver. They can come in full or half moon configurations and make the reloading phase much faster.

The reason why it hasn’t been more common is revolver ammunition usually has a “lip” to keep it in place in the cylinder. Revolvers that accept pistol ammunition typically have moon clips – or thin metal devices used to hold pistol ammunition in place.

A historical example of this is the British Webley Mark IV and a modern example is a Ruger LCR 9mm.

Rifles That Use Pistol Ammunition

While typically not recommended due to range restrictions, there are rifles that can accept pistol ammunition. For a modern example of a carbine-style firearm, Beretta makes the Cx4 Storm.

Some models have interchangeable magazines with the Beretta 92F – a very common and durable SA/DA 9mm pistol. While it seems like a capable enough carbine from field testing, it’s real charm comes from its pricepoint (MSRP $800) and the ability to incorporate it into a system of weapons.

For those looking for a more traditional, rugged firearm, Legacy makes an M-1 carbine that accepts Beretta 92F magazines as well. One of the great things about the M-1 carbine is it’s a simple design, semi-automatic rifle that doesn’t look like it’s made completely out of polymer (like the Cx4).

But for those where a synthetic stock isn’t a problem – Legacy and other manufacturers produce this M-1 carbine variant with a sturdy black polymer stock. It’s really just a preference.

Does it have to be 9mm? Absolutely not. The above examples were just meant to illustrate working through a system (pistol, revolver, rifle) chambered in 9mm. There are options for .40 S&W, .45 ACP and even 5.56 NATO.

The PLR-16 is a pistol that accepts standard AR-15 5.56 NATO magazines and is compact enough to carry as a sidearm.

It doesn’t matter what type of ammunition you use – so long as you don’t have to guess where the ammunition is located.

Considerations for Ammo-Interchangeable Weapon Systems

Given enough time, the weapons you are using will fail. In a true emergency situation where it’s uncertain what will happen from one moment to the next, it’s best to stay as flexible as possible. If you didn’t know already – the only ammunition you should ever put into a firearm is the one it’s chambered for. Notably exceptions are .38 and .357.

NOTE: The 7.62x51mm is NOT interchangeable with the .308 Winchester round. Yes, they fit in the same space but they use different specs. It’s not even recommended in an emergency situation. Some gun enthusiasts will disagree but it’s a great rule to follow.

When in doubt – go .22LR. Not only is the .22LR caliber bullet versatile, light, and cheap – it’s also extremely interchangeable between pistols, revolvers, and rifles. More importantly, in a survival situation, weight is at a premium and you should always be looking to reduce your pack load – not pack more on. Carrying 500 rounds of .22LR and a Savage rifle will probably get you much farther than hauling a FN FAL .308. That’s not to say the FN FAL .308 isn’t a fantastic weapon system – but it’s not the thing you want to haul over countless miles of unknown terrain.